The present invention relates generally to a device for handling material, and more particularly relates to a feed system for feeding fasteners into a fastener installation apparatus.
Fasteners, such as pierce nuts disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,707,322, are widely used in mass production applications such as in the automotive industry. In many instances, including mass production applications, it is advantageous to "string" (or join) fasteners together in a common orientation prior to feeding them into the installation apparatus. One advantage in joining fasteners to form a strip of fasteners is that it typically simplifies the design of the fastener feed system. U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,860 discloses a method for joining a plurality of fasteners into a strip of fasteners whereby each fastener in the strip of fasteners has a common orientation.
Although feeding an installation device with a strip of fasteners simplifies the design of the fastener feed mechanism, the strip of fasteners eventually terminates and, in order to keep the installation apparatus operating without interruption, a smooth transition must take place between the end of one fastener strip and the beginning of the next fastener strip. Prior art attempts to provide automatic transfer between strips of fasteners have proven inadequate to meet the demands of mass production applications.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a feed mechanism capable of continuously feeding a strip of fasteners into an installation apparatus and also capable of continuous operation between first and second sets of fastener strips wherein the sets of fastener strips are not joined.